Epilogue: Three Layers of a Contested Concept

Abstract

Closing our pursuit of sovereignty games we hope to have sketched a number of both theoretical and practical examples for others to add additional illustrations and perspectives. Throughout the volume, we have argued for the emergence of new and the return of old games in which sovereignty, or claims to sovereignty, have been instrumentalized by states and other players for a multitude of purposes. In the analysis of both vertical and horizontal sovereignty games, we have demonstrated how new scenarios may be emerging, rules twisted, and new moves contemplated. The majority of the chapters have thus been devoted to analyzing the implications of these sovereignty games for the world we live in.